The Legal Aid Society held its 146th Annual Meeting on Wednesday, where staff were recognized for their service and dedication to the organization and its clients. The event was held in person at Fordham University School of Law for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Orison S. Marden Awards were created in 1976 during Legal Aid’s centennial year to recognize the excellence of the staff and to honor the memory of Mr. Marden, a partner at White & Case who served as a Director and Chairman for many years.

The Core Staff Marden Award was presented to Gislaine Phillip, Paralegal II in the Criminal Defense Practice.  The Staff Attorney Marden Award was presented to Jane-Roberte Sampeur, Staff Attorney in the Criminal Defense Practice. The Manager Marden Award was presented to Melinda Andra, Assistant Attorney-in-Charge in the Juvenile Rights Practice.

Gislaine Phillip       

Jane-Roberte Sampeur           

Melinda Andra                    

The Sandra Scott Memorial Award honors the memory of our beloved Chief Financial Officer who lost her battle with cancer in 2016. Gregory Insardi, Application Support Specialist, was presented with this year’s award.

Gregory Insardi

Members of the staff who are celebrating their 25th, 30th, 35th, 40th, 45th and 50th anniversaries with The Legal Aid Society were also honored:

50 Years
Steven Mechanic, Robert Newman, and Sara Sanders

45 Years
Gary Solomon

40 Years
Shelley Correy and Claudia Emanuel

35 Years
Sharon Anderson, Marla Band, Bernard Bellinger, Thomas Bomba, Glenda Callender, Bernette Carway-Spruiell, Ferdinand Cesarano, Bryan Coakley, Matthew Cohen, Dawn Dapelo, Lisa Donchak, Kerry Elgarten, Elisa Flight, Hamilton Forde, Robin Frankel, George Gabriel, Francis Gibbons, Karen Hambrick, Michael Hurson, Kenneth Ives, Kam Jim, Clyde Johnson, Thomas Johnson, Andrew Katz, Josette Lang, Leigh Latimer, Joseph Lavine, Adrian Lesher, Donna Lewis, Paul Liu, Nancy Matos-Rodriguez, Caroline McGrath, Eric Meggett, Fern Merenstein, Robert Moeller, Florence Morgan, Fay Munro-Cole, Judy Ocasio, Ward Oliver, Cornelius Perry, Allen Popper, Linda Postell, Frederic Pratt, Zenobia Prattis-Montgomery, Mimi Rosenberg, Timothy Rountree, Gail Rozansky, Eric Scott, Cynthia Sichenze, Sondra Smith, Roy Wasserman, and Mary Zaslofsky

30 Years
Michael Alcarese, Tareek Anderson, Patricia Colella, Esperanza Colon, Nora Davila, Francis Donovan, Kathleen Hardy, Bridget Holloman, Kathleen Kelleher, Svetlana Kornfeind, Lori Landowne, Simone Lawson, JoAnn LeBright, Marie Mombrun, Mary Peppito, Deborah Pollack, Risa Procton, Luis Roman, Jose Rosado, Dorothy Smalls, and Denzil Smith

25 Years
Vanda Ballard, Norah Bowler, Antonia Codling, William Cotto, Natalie Deduke, Japel Filiaci, Josephine Flores, Norma Frade, Samuel Getz, Gerald Grossman, Lucy Herschel, Robert Heilbrun, Mary Kim, Stacy Lam, Peter Mitchell, John Newbery, Ricardo Perez, Kenneth Schaeffer, and Rosemary Vellucci